This invention relates to the installation of decorative coverings. It has been shown in the present inventors first patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,658 that carpets having a looped backing can be conveniently installed on a floor by the use of complementary hooked tape. One of the primary ways disclosed in that patent is attaching the tape to the floor at the perimeter and seams (hereinafter xe2x80x9cperimeter and seamxe2x80x9d installation). The present inventor has also developed an anchor sheet which is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/684,004 filed Jul. 19, 1996 and continuation-in-part application Ser. No. 08/850,726 filed May 2, 1997 (the specifications of which are herein incorporated by reference). Rather than attaching the carpet directly to a hooked tape attached to the floor, an intermediate thin flexible relatively rigid anchor sheet is provided which gives rigidity and integrity and mass to the overlying pieces of carpet covering. The anchor sheet can be covered in hooks. The carpet has an underlying looped backing for attachment to the hooks. The carpet can be in pieces which overlap the anchor sheet pieces to provide rigidity and strength to the total unit.
The perimeter and seam method and the anchor sheet structure and method can both be used and will both work. However in some circumstances it may be advisable to use a combination of both methods in which a form of anchor sheet provides a stable framework into which either a cushion or a covering material or both can be inserted either attached to the floor by a hook and loop attachment method or as a xe2x80x9cfree floatxe2x80x9d within the framework. In these circumstances, the anchor sheet can be a support for a covering unit attached to the anchor sheet by hook and loop as shown in the earlier related cases. Carpet within the framework can then be installed with hook and loop or in a conventional manner, i.e., without hook and loop, by glue down or even by free floating.
In some circumstances the hook tape of a perimeter and seam installation can be the xe2x80x9cframeworkxe2x80x9d within which an anchor sheet installation can be made. In this case the anchor sheet may float within the framework created by hook tape attached to a floor. Additional methods of attaching a tape framework and a tape framework construction are disclosed as well as other methods of installing an anchor sheet as a framework, including the use of a form or jig.
The need for flexibility in installing floor coverings is well known. Most floor coverings must be cut and fit on site and therefore must be flexible to provide for different physical limitations. In addition subflooring and supporting substrates differ widely in both quality and type, even in new construction. In old construction existing flooring may remain and present problems.
The background to the invention is substantially shown in the present inventor""s prior issued patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,658 (Apr. 18, 1989, Pacione); U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,692 (Mar. 9, 1993, Pacione); U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,462 (Jan. 17, 1995, Pacione); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,755 (Jan. 2, 1996, Pacione). In addition attempts to make structural semi-permanent flooring and wall material incorporating a hook surface is also disclosed in the present inventor""s earlier anchor board system U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,443 (Oct. 29, 1991, Pacione); U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,163 (Nov. 9, 1993, Pacione); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,786 (Sep. 8, 1992, Pacione).
A thin rigid but flexible anchor sheet has advantages to stabilize the overlying carpet to provide a relatively rigid subfloor for installation of an overlying carpet. When a resilient backing of cushioning material is attached to or supplied under such anchor sheet, the anchor sheet provides a novel subfloor which has significant advantages over existing underpads.
We have described the anchor sheet as both xe2x80x9cflexiblexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9crigidxe2x80x9d. It is flexible in the sense that over a reasonable length it can bend and in most circumstances can even be rolled with a radius of curvature for example of perhaps 3 or 4 inches unlike for example plywood. It is rigid in the sense that if held at one end it can support itself for instance over a distance of 12-24 inches without drooping unlike a cloth or fabric tape.
It is not commonly appreciated that an underpad, while it provides resiliency, can lead to degradation in the overlying decorative textile surface. This is because the resiliency allows for the carpet to deform when walked upon or when furniture or other items are placed on the carpet. This deformation can, if it is not properly supported from below, result in crushing and eventual deterioration of the carpet structure.
The anchor sheet of this invention has a relatively rigid yet flexible thin sheet material, preferably a plastic or of a polymer material such as a polyester, polycarbonate, polypropylene or even a graphite or other advanced polymer material overlying a resilient cushion. This structure provides a surprising amount of resiliency and cushioning to the carpet. However because the overlying anchor sheet is relatively rigid, the carpet fibres are protected from crushing and therefore the life of the carpet is significantly extended while still appearing to have a sufficient degree of resiliency.
In order to provide the proper degree of resilience in the hooks and the proper degree of rigidity to the sheet, the hooks and sheets may need to be made from, for example, different plastic materials by lamination or coextrusion.
To the inventor""s knowledge no person, until disclosed in this and the earlier related applications, has had the relatively unconventional idea of covering a resilient material with a thin flexible relatively rigid sheet material.
Thus the invention comprises in, one aspect, an anchor sheet subfloor comprising a laminate having an upper layer of a relatively thin and flexible rigid sheet material and a bottom layer of a relatively resilient cushioning material.
While not as pronounced, the advantages of a relatively rigid but flexible anchor sheet to create a smooth subfloor and to tie overlying carpet pieces together into a stable mass can to some extent be achieved even without a resilient undercushioning. Thus the invention comprises in another aspect a relatively thin flexible rigid sheet material preferably of plastic or polymer which can be cut and fit on site to fit the contours of a room or other area to be covered to form by itself or in combination with other anchor sheets a free floating smooth subfloor on which can be laid decorative covering pieces.
In another aspect the invention comprises a carpet and subfloor comprising a first layer of relatively resilient cushioning material overlaying the floor. A second layer of a thin flexible rigid polymer material overlaying the first layer and hooks covering at least a portion of the top surface of the second layer and a carpet having an undersurface covered in loops and detachably attached to the hooks covering the second layer to form a coherent stable carpet structure.
In another aspect, the subfloor and structure created by the first resilient layer and the second layer of anchor sheet, can be covered across its surface by perimeter and seam hooked tape so as to allow for installation of a carpet on the subfloor in accordance with the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,658. In this case the subfloor is actually not attached to the floor directly but is normally xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d but this may be sufficient, in many installations, to stabilize the carpet.
As previously described, in some circumstances, the anchor sheet can act as a framework for either a carpet or an underpad or both. Thus, in another aspect, the invention covers an anchor sheet, carpet and an underpad combination for installing a carpet or underpad onto a floor comprising an anchor sheet installed along the perimeter of an area to be covered, describing and bounding that area, hook tape attached to the sheet along the perimeter of the upper face of the anchor sheet and a resilient underpad of a height matching the height of the anchor sheet sized to fit within the area bounded by the anchor sheet. A carpet having an underside covered in loops can then be overlaid. The anchor sheet perimeter and the resilient underpad may be either free floating or installed in a conventional manner within the anchor sheet framework.
A more complex anchor sheet framework can also be formed consisting of modular covering units made as disclosed in related application Ser. No. 08/850,726. Thus in another aspect the invention comprises a modular framework for carpet installation comprising a plurality of covering modules having decorative coverings attached to a thin flexible rigid anchor sheet so as to leave exposed overlapping areas of anchor sheet or covering for detachable attachment and interlocking relationship to an adjoining module as disclosed in related application Ser. No. 08/850,726. In this aspect of the invention, the modules are then detachably interlocked to define and enclose an area. Carpet or underpad or carpet and underpad depending upon the height of the framework created, is then cut and fit within the area defined by the covering modules.
As previously mentioned, an anchor sheet subfloor can also be installed within a perimeter bounded by hooked tape, in effect creating a hooked tape framework. In this aspect of the invention, a perimeter of hooked tape is attached to the floor. The tape may be of a form disclosed in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,462 or having a tape with a cushioned backing or a tape with a foundation sheet as disclosed in the present application.
In this aspect of the invention, a thin rigid flexible anchor sheet having an upper surface having a plurality of hooks in which the anchor sheet or anchor sheet and cushion is substantially the same height as the tape can then be cut and fit within the area bounded by the hooked tape to provide for a surface underlayment over which a carpet or other decorative covering having a looped backing can be installed.